The new news 24 thread

[4wheeledstool]

Those wishbones are impressive, how old is the car?

2004 chief.

Crikey ! It's a 9N, isn't it ? Are they the OEM items, or some aftermarket shite ?

 

If it's the latter, please name and shame the manufacturer !

Yeah its a 9N - at 145k they're probably not the originals, but any markings to indicate who the manufacturer was have long since turned to brown dust. The ball joints are still good, but their fasteners half dissolved.

[cms206]

CS is borrowing the 960 for van duties later today.

 

With le VAG shite off for bodywork and the 305 semi retired to my shed to stop it fizzing round the bunghole, CS lent me his cash and carry ex-Partridge tragedy Jag as transport.

 

I don't like Jags - but it's a set of wheels should I need it. You're supposed to like Jags. I never have bar the XJ220, Mk X and X-TYPE 3.0.

I've decided that leathered off, it isn't bad looking from the outside. The body control is excellent and the damping is first rate; ride and handling balance worthy of the cliches.

 

Can I get on with the interior? No. It's shite, frankly. I thought the Americans were the experts at wasting space inside a car. I was wrong. People wither on about a 'sense of occasion' inside a Jag - all I saw was crap wood and clattering switch gear, the caramac XJ40 instrument binnacle pods the worst offenders.

 

It can go into my 'Drives Great, Looks Shite' category of motors, populated at the moment by the R50 Mini Cooper S.

I don't get Jags either, nor do I get Rover 75s. I'm a big chap and they're all quite claustrophobic.

 

That said my old gaffer has several 75s which all have done huge mileage without issue; can't say the same for Jags, we've a driver who seems to only ever get about 46 weeks out of a year's test without having to spend the last six weeks welding his back together.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[richardmorris]

Pick your own Sunday lunch.

[BorniteIdentity]

I've long suspected our God would be an old giffer....

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/targeted-vandals-bright-yellow-car-blamed-ruining-viewin-cotswold/

 

Should we offer to respray it for him in an even MOAR garish colour?

[Kiltox]

I've long suspected our God would be an old giffer....

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/targeted-vandals-bright-yellow-car-blamed-ruining-viewin-cotswold/

 

Should we offer to respray it for him in an even MOAR garish colour?

I think he needs the rustiest most pikey Luton van he can find with some offensive sign writing!

[Craig the Princess]

Buy back the shell as salvage and burn the fucker out. That'll teach the nimbys

[mercrocker]

I bet all those would-be "photographers" all drove there in something fucking vile themselves....And proceeded to tramp about in everybody else's view.

[M'coli]

XUD fuel filter after 13000 or so miles running 50/50 diesel/cabbage juice...

[alf892]

I'll not bother with a collection thread as I know there's not a lot of love for these.......but it a slow news day so here you go.

 

After 5 years of economical and fun commuting in a diesel Bini I was up for a change. I don't do many miles so economy not reall an issue. I started off looking at P4 Rovers but decided I really like being warm and cosy......and didn't want another car I needed to spend much time looking after.

 

So then I looked at Rover 75s with auto and v6 but found they are a nice place to sit but a disappointing drive....in my opinion anyway.

 

While trying a 75 Mrs Alf saw an S Type and said how she had always liked them....and I've always loved them.....so challenge set.

 

Over the last three weeks I've looked at 5. Had to be green and had to have heated leather.....and sub 2 bags...clocked up a good 900 miles looking.......

 

So yesterday I bought this.....

 

 

With no heated leather

 

Very slightly over budget and the photos flatter it. 1 family owned from new and well maintained but never loved or washed.

Wheels powdery.

Oh...and I love it already! I had a new X type but this is another world in terms of comfort and general waft.

Anyone want a diesel Bini ?

[Royale80]

Like that Alf-Petrol?

 

Steve

[alf892]

Yes....3 litre auto..diesels seem to promise a world of pain followed by bankruptcy.

 

Shame as I love my diesels

[BorniteIdentity]

Bit of alright that, Alfred. Noice.

[RobT]

Live from underneath the sea.

 

 

Off to France in the Safrane, coming back tomorrow evening after a day mooching about. This internet connection is better than at home!

 

My only anxiety at the moment is whether the non-starting issue from a while back happens. It's been fine for a month now, but I'll find out in 20 mins or so....

[dollywobbler]

This weekend has seen us take the Honda S-MX up to York and back for a wedding. Was a bit alarmed to discover the Honda had almost no oil in it on the day of departure, but it's lapped up another long journey (its first in quite a few months) with barely a whimper. Sure, the odd flaky gearchange, but it doesn't do that often - just slow on the downchanges, so it revs up rather a lot. I must get around to doing something about that...

 

Oh and the creaky rear suspension bushes.

 

And the headlamp that STILL has a dodgy connection (looks like I have dim-dip on one side only. GR8 4 pretending to be a Land Rover).

 

Fair play though, it's very good at eating up the miles. Will be interesting to compare with the OMEGAWD.

[HillmanImp]

Replaced the headlight on the Visa today as the old one had lost its reflective coating inside. Was only £20 on Ebay.

 

This is the old one, it looks like waters got in and knackered it.

 

 

Annoyingly the light fitting was slightly different aandthe new one takes a different bulb to the other side so I had a rummage around in the garage and I've now got a silly bright light on one side and a normal one on the other. Might have a look to see if i can fudge the other side to fit the more modern bulb.

 

The rear o/s brake light still isn't working despite me spending £80 on light units (thought the replacement one I bought was knackered too so bought another which also didn't work which might suggest its something else..... ) but other than that its pretty much MOT ready. Plus I have pretty much cornered the market in Visa rear lights. I can probably name my price going forward.

 

However I noticed today that the intermittent windscreen wipers not working properly. Is that a fail? It works fine on tge other speeds?

 

My son came out to help and jammed some needlenose pliers in the radiator grill, which is something I've been meaning to do for a while. Its given the can an estimated 10bhp extra, so it now has 15.

 

[Richard]

You can buy a Halogen Conversion bulb, or an adapter to let you fit H4 bulbs in the existing unit. There's a link a couple of pages back in Ghosty's 216 thread.

[RobT]

The Safrane started fine, now sat in the ibis not far from the eurotunnel exit. 3 hours from leaving home to being in my French hotel room, crazy. First time I've taken the tunnel but will definitely be doing it again.

[bub2006]

My c15 van has that issue. I was seeing if they can be resilvered. Can you let me know how much of a difference is made please?

[Cavcraft]

A bit more robbing Peter to pay Paul today. Halfway through switching the 306 alloys over to the Berlingo, I realised it looked quite shit, but obvs. CBA swapping round again, so just carried on.

I also took the new battery of the car for the van, but didn't get to be to seeing if the windscreen wiper motor was the same.

We did start the green mini motos again though, that was quite entertaining.

 

[cort16]

Replaced the headlight on the Visa today as the old one had lost its reflective coating inside. Was only £20 on Ebay.

 

This is the old one, it looks like waters got in and knackered it.

 

IMAG0264.jpg

 

Annoyingly the light fitting was slightly different aandthe new one takes a different bulb to the other side so I had a rummage around in the garage and I've now got a silly bright light on one side and a normal one on the other. Might have a look to see if i can fudge the other side to fit the more modern bulb.

 

The rear o/s brake light still isn't working despite me spending £80 on light units (thought the replacement one I bought was knackered too so bought another which also didn't work which might suggest its something else..... ) but other than that its pretty much MOT ready. Plus I have pretty much cornered the market in Visa rear lights. I can probably name my price going forward.

 

However I noticed today that the intermittent windscreen wipers not working properly. Is that a fail? It works fine on tge other speeds?

 

My son came out to help and jammed some needlenose pliers in the radiator grill, which is something I've been meaning to do for a while. Its given the can an estimated 10bhp extra, so it now has 15.

 

IMAG0266.jpg

 

 

My daughter who looks about the same age picked up some of my tools and I thought aw how cute then 10 seconds later heard "splosh' as she dropped them down the drain while laughing.

[Richard]

Replaced the headlight on the Visa today as the old one had lost its reflective coating inside. Was only £20 on Ebay.

 

This is the old one, it looks like waters got in and knackered it.

 

IMAG0264.jpg

 

Annoyingly the light fitting was slightly different aandthe new one takes a different bulb to the other side so I had a rummage around in the garage and I've now got a silly bright light on one side and a normal one on the other. Might have a look to see if i can fudge the other side to fit the more modern bulb.

 

The rear o/s brake light still isn't working despite me spending £80 on light units (thought the replacement one I bought was knackered too so bought another which also didn't work which might suggest its something else..... ) but other than that its pretty much MOT ready. Plus I have pretty much cornered the market in Visa rear lights. I can probably name my price going forward.

 

However I noticed today that the intermittent windscreen wipers not working properly. Is that a fail? It works fine on tge other speeds?

 

My son came out to help and jammed some needlenose pliers in the radiator grill, which is something I've been meaning to do for a while. Its given the can an estimated 10bhp extra, so it now has 15.

 

IMAG0266.jpg

 

Here you go. Converter rings http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/led-headlamp-bulbs-shop.php and Halogen Conversion bulb http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292010534589

 

These bulbs were quite popular when I started driving in the late 80s because there were a lot of cars still going around with 40/45W Tungsten headlamps. You could get them in higher (illegal) wattages too, gawd knows what that did to the beam pattern.

[seth]

I'm thinking that I might be the only person ever in the history of BMC Farina-dom who has been dissapointed to find a rear spring hanger section of 'chassis' almost 100% free of rust.  Because I'm going to have to chop it out anyway.

[Six-cylinder]

Replaced the headlight on the Visa today as the old one had lost its reflective coating inside. Was only £20 on Ebay.

 

This is the old one, it looks like waters got in and knackered it.

The driver's side headlight on my GT is knackered.

[HillmanImp]

You can buy a Halogen Conversion bulb, or an adapter to let you fit H4 bulbs in the existing unit. There's a link a couple of pages back in Ghosty's 216 thread.

 

Christ, it took me frigging ages to find that. I started from the back, went about 7 pages back, started at the back again and went all the way to the beginning, did some searches on words like 'bulb' and 'h4' and then went all the way from the beginning to the end where I finally found it despite having read the bloody posts it referred to twice. This is the same problem I always had revising for exams. I can stare at something and be thinking of something else. There is probably a use for this talent but if there is, I was probably thinking about pork pies or womens tits or something whilst I was reading about it.

 

As I write this, I've just noticed that you have posted the link. Thanks.

 

Here you go. Converter rings http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/led-headlamp-bulbs-shop.php and Halogen Conversion bulb http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292010534589

 

These bulbs were quite popular when I started driving in the late 80s because there were a lot of cars still going around with 40/45W Tungsten headlamps. You could get them in higher (illegal) wattages too, gawd knows what that did to the beam pattern.

 

Anyhow, I went to order one for £3.95 and they want an additional £3.95 in postage, for a tiny bit of plastic. So instead, I've just bought another headlight with the right fitting already there as that's only £22 (£2 more than I said earlier) and there will be no fucking around with it. If I can sell the spare one for £12 I've broken even and have the correct part.

[HillmanImp]

My c15 van has that issue. I was seeing if they can be resilvered. Can you let me know how much of a difference is made please?

 

I honestly won't be able to tell as its got a much brighter bulb in and didn't look at how it shone beforehand. After I fitted it I shone the new one on the garage door to align it but hadn't bothered to look at the old one.

 

My reason for changing it was that I guessed it would fail its MOT as it was as the light would not be reflecting properly?

 

I did ask on the Stupid Question Amnesty thread and the general consensus was that it was a lot of work when you can get another pretty cheaply and easily. 

[SiC]

Boughted!

 

s-l16001.jpg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142256928106

 

Unseen naturally... I did make a proviso in my offer that I want to have a test drive before I buy, so I know its not going to try and kill me on the drive back.

 

Possibly not AutoShite material though??

Unboughted!

 

Travelled 3hrs to get there, with a freshly printed insurance certificate in hand - fully expecting to drive it home. It had a few marks on the body which I expected and it was also black. Drove well too but...

 

It wasn't just one thing, it was a whole number of small issues that together became big because cost.

 

Off the top of the head:

Only 2 months MOT left, 1 key (risky on these as prone to fail - ~£150), mismatched tyre on rear (one all season, one normal but 2003 date coded on a 2005 car), tinted windows (illegally too tinted - from experience removal really needs pro to not leave mark), ABS reluctor ring (brake pulsing, not massive job ~£50) and bunch of crap mods (easy enough to remove, but still) like crap LED retrofit reflectors, white LEDs forced into the fog lights as DRLs. Finally tow hook wasn't in proper place, it was rattling around in glove box - so likely have been used previously. Oh and no history of oil changes since 2011.

 

Basically came down to too many small things and gut feeling that it didn't feel right. If it was a £1200 car, I'd gone for it but £2150 is a bit much to gamble on something questionable.

 

The decision to walk really wasn't taken lightly. Seller seemed pretty reasonable about it.

[Kiltox]

Gutting but avoiding a dog is always good!

[wuvvum]

I've done around 550 miles in the Getz this weekend - down to my parents' in Somerset, then back home this afternoon via Ilkeston to pick up a mountain bike, which I was going to sling on the bike rack but ended up just whipping the wheels off and putting it in the boot.  The Hyundai ran fine, seems to have used about £50 of diesel and only needed about half a litre of oil - the leak appears to have slowed down since I started topping it up with 15w40 - I reckon someone's filled it with 0w30 fully synth or something and it's basically just been falling straight out of the engine again.  The clutch doesn't seem to be getting any worse either.  It's not the ideal long-distance car - it could do with better soundproofing and the seat doesn't go back quite far enough for me - but it's perfectly tolerable and better than I expected.

 

My dad has ended up buying a 57-plate Kia Cee'd - we test drove it and I was quite impressed, felt well put together and very solid on the road, although it's only a 1.4 so not exactly rapid - my parents are both mid-60s now so performance is less of a consideration.  We did also test drive a Chevrolet Lacetti - on an 09 plate with a genuine 30k on the clock but lots of scuffs on the bodywork, so probably giffer-owned.  It actually drove quite nicely, handling was sharp and it went well, although the ride was a tad firm - interior felt a lot cheaper and a lot more old fashioned than the Kia though.  It also had a lot of mayo in the oil cap, although I think GM engines have a tendency to get condensation in the rocker cover if they're not used much.  It was a close thing in the end as the Lacetti was also £500 cheaper than the Cee'd, but we both agreed the Kia would probably be a better long-term proposition.  Doesn't really appeal to me, especially at 10x the price of the Getz, but Dad is at a time of life when he values reliability and ease of use above other considerations.

[Anthony]

Finished off installing a new clutch on the 205 yesterday and doing a few other related bits and pieces whilst I was there (CV boots, gearbox mount, diff seals etc) followed by a successful test drive.

 

So how did it reward that effort when I came to take it to work this morning? By not starting. Ungrateful bastard.

[mercrocker]

I'm thinking that I might be the only person ever in the history of BMC Farina-dom who has been dissapointed to find a rear spring hanger section of 'chassis' almost 100% free of rust.  Because I'm going to have to chop it out anyway.

 

Don't worry, there will be plenty somewhere else.